Thursday, July 26, 2007 | by nathan

“freedom has a scent like the top of a newborn baby’s head”

I had the birthday blues yesterday, which is odd since my birthday was actually on Monday. I’ve never been the kind of person to want to celebrate his birthday with a lot of fanfare; a nice cookout on Saturday with my family, the day off on Monday, and I’m good. But for some reason ever since Monday I’ve been feeling a little down, and I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that it had something, vaguely, to do with my birthday. I was feeling sad, I suppose, that another milestone passed and I did so little to celebrate it. But also, I know that if I had celebrated it, I would’ve felt awkward about it. That Catch-22 feeling was what was getting to me, I suppose.

I had to run an errand for work which took me, thankfully, right by Erica & Alex’s house. So, I called them and asked if I could come hang out with the baby for awhile, which, thankfully, they were all too happy to let me. Cooper was sweet and small, actually weighing less than he did at birth, and I learned how he likes to be held, and I got some really wonderful pictures, and every few seconds put my nose next to the top of his head and breathed deeply.

I felt better after that. If I ever wonder why I live anywhere other than Oklahoma, I can remind myself that it’s because the people I love the most are creating families all around me, and anytime I’m feeling down I can go hang with their babies for awhile, and look at how far we’ve all come, and feel a zillion, bamillion times better than I did previously. 

Thursday, July 26, 2007 | by nathan

277 - R.

I’ve watched you grow from wide-eyed youth group kid to amazing woman, and though your path was non-traditional, it couldn’t have been more suited to your personality.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 | by nathan

Neat!

‘Amember how I said I was going to write out my next novel by hand? And how I needed to go get a bunch of legal pads on which to do so? WELL!

Today at lunch I was at home, eating some delicious pad thai with tofu, and the mail came. I went to get it, and there was a package on the front porch from my good friend Dylan, who had sent me a box full of legal pads from Staples, a box of pens and a really awesome card.

So, in sight of the entire Internets, Dylan, here you go:

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 | by nathan

276 - K.

He is hot, ambitious, and not effusively, falsely friendly, and because of this people think he’s a jerk. Except for the being hot, I can totally relate.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 | by nathan

Come On Down!

I make absolutely no secret of my intense love for The Price is Right. When I was a young, young child - we’re talking pre-preschool, here - I would sit eagerly every morning and watch a then-brunette Bob Barker giving away fabulous showcases! every morning on that show.

When I went to college I plumbed new depths of the TPIR-love. Every morning before my 11 A.M. philosophy class in the spring of my sophomore year (God, I miss college), I would stop in Shorty’s to get a cup of coffee and to read over my notes or skim the reading once more before going face-to-face with Dr. Lewis. Every morning I did this with the utmost intentionality, but also, I’d watch TPIR on the bigscreen T.V. while sipping my coffee, reading Kant or Kierkegaard, and cheering people on when they played Plinko. I began to notice that it was the same people, over and over, all of us forming this odd little group of people who showed up in Shorty’s every morning to watch Price. I even wrote a column about it in the student newspaper.

Later in life, I was lucky to find a partner who grew up with an equal amount of Price-love, and we’ve happily taken every weekday morning we’ve had off together to watch it. We went to see the live show when we were in Las Vegas.

So, today, I read that Drew Carey is taking over the hosting duties on The Price is Right. To be honest, as much as I like Rosie O’Donnell, I’m glad the rumors about her getting the job ended up not being true, because I didn’t want my beloved show to suffer that much controversy. Drew’s fine. He’s not Bob, and he’ll suffer for that, but I enjoyed Whose Line? so I guess I’ll give him a chance. 

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 | by nathan

Twenty-Seven!

I turned 27 yesterday. I took the day off of work, and it was marked largely by me spending my morning in the most productive fashion: playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii. Jaye took me to lunch at Ingrid’s, and then I spent most of the afternoon reading and listening to music. It was nice. Brian and I went to the gym in the evening, and I accidentally crashed out when we got home, waking a couple hours later to the smell of him making veggie pizzas in the kitchen. Several wonderful friends called to say happy birthday, and so all in all it was exactly how I like to spend birthdays: quietly, without a lot of fanfare.

Friday night Laurie, Jaye, Brian and I went to see Order of the Phoenix again. Jaye and Brian went to the casino at Remington Park while Laurie and I camped out at Border’s waiting for our copies of Deathly Hallows, me explaining my very intricate theory of what was going to happen - when I have more time I’ll post a review - and generally just enjoying the people-watching. After an hour or so, however, we were more than ready to get the books and get out of there. The husbands showed up after awhile to bring us gigantic Sonic iced teas and wait with us. After we got the book, the four of us went next door to Madison’s Pancake House and had breakfast, then home to start reading.

My family had a cookout for me on Saturday; by the time it started I was about 600 pages into the book, so I brought it with me and finished up while they made dinner.

So, another year gone, 30 creeps ever closer. I need to sit down and think about what I’d like 27 to look like for me. Several of the people who called yesterday told me that, for whatever reason, 27 is their favorite number. Hey! Sure! I feel good about being 27. Appropriately, my x365 posts will now contain one extra word for your reading pleasure.  

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 | by nathan

275 - S.

Being around you makes me want to kill myself. Your constant pleas for attention and sympathy wear everyone ragged, but we’re all too chicken to say anything.

Monday, July 23, 2007 | by nathan

274 - Noel

The man who ran the kids’ club in the Dolphin’s Barn neighborhood – Dubin’s most dangerous area – is brave, faithful, and pretty much everything I’d like to be.

Sunday, July 22, 2007 | by nathan

273 - Dr. R.

I knew him in childhood, dad’s colleague; when I went to science camp he was the kooky physics teacher who dropped the chalk, proclaiming gravity’s success.

Saturday, July 21, 2007 | by nathan

272 - Mrs. B.

The World History teacher told us we were stupid to suggest that colonization was anything but good for all those savages living in the third world.